


Wild

by Dessoestma



Series: The Stories of Vander Carris [3]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: (people murder), Animal Death, Gen, Murder, general violence towards animals too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 03:10:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18682945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dessoestma/pseuds/Dessoestma
Summary: A man of the woods does not do kindly when a creature of the forest is hurt out of cruelty.What happened to be a chance encounter in which he saved an animal - would blossom into a companion for life who would be with him until the end of his days.





	1. Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> (This work as of now is unedited and may be updated again in the future)

The city air was full of noise, smells, unpleasant sensations. The sweat off another person as they were pushed up against you, smoke, screaming. Every breath Vander took was almost painful. He was suffocating. He couldn’t breath. He needed to. He couldn’t. He needed to.

His feet and body danced around other people. Step, bend, step, bend. His fists clamped around the edges of his cloak, holding it secure and making sure his hood concealed his face. He desperately tried to stop himself from gasping, telling himself to breath. But he couldn’t. He had never thrived in a city. He’d been isolated most of his childhood.

He couldn’t do it. Not for long. Step, bend, step, bend. When his path was clear, he ran through the streets, dashed through alleyways, ran and jumped on carts and on stands. He needed an exit. He rapidly approached the edges of Waterdeep. His freedom so close. His breath growing steadier. He ran out of the city, carrying little for the guards who tried to chase him.

He might have been suspicious for sprinting out of the city but they could not catch him. He poured on the speed, ran as fast as he could as the air of the forests and fields filled his lungs. He cared little for the humans that tried to chase his wild spirit.

He was light as air as he ran. The path wasn’t crowded but it wasn’t entirely free of people. Most of them spared a second glance but did not bother him. Or, at least he didn’t think they tried to bother him. 

He could hear nothing but the pounding of his heart in his ears, the sound of each long breath he took. He felt nothing but the wind that made his cloak fly in the wind, push down his hood and felt the wind in the air. Nothing mattered but his breathing, the wind, and his boots as he felt the shape of every cobble, every pebble he set foot upon.

He reached a forest, he didn’t care for which, and he scanned for the biggest tree. Still running, he poured on the extra speed and his feet pounded the wood. He took several large steps before pushing upwards on the bark and circling his arms around a tree branch. He dangled there for a moment, heaving for breath. He looked up into the tree and blinked a few times. He turned back, over his shoulder and could not see a path in sight. Still gasping, he pulled himself onto the tree branch and scrambled up to the trees highest point and looked through its leaves to see if he could locate where he was. He could barely make out the walls of Waterdeep from here. No matter.

He took in a slow deep breath and retreated to a thicker branch to sit down on and regain his breath. He hummed quietly to himself and listened for any nearby birds. He could hear them, identify a few of the ones singing. He began to join them, pure notes. They all stopped and soon joined him. He smiled, running his hand through his dagger-short-cut-hair. He might not have a true home anymore. But this was his home - the wild.

~~*******~~

He moved from tree to tree with easy. Jump, springing, sliding, grasping. Working his entire body and his mind. One mistake and he could break his neck. It was exhilarating. Adrenaline rushed through him, making him giddy. He continued to see with the birds as he moved through the forest. He was looking for a lake or a river, someplace to drink from while he was away from Waterdeep. An isolated solace in this vast land.

This was one of the many times he was truly at peace, satisfied and content with life. The city suffocated him but in the forests he was free.

He searched for hours, even when he started to tire he did not stop. He needed a water source before he could stop and rest. Jump, spring, slide, grasp. Finally he found a water source. A little pond of water surrounded by the forest. It would not even have reached his knees in depth.

He carefully slide his way down a tree branch, rolled onto the floor and came up by the lake. He went to the pound and checked it critically. He tentatively touched the water and tasted a drop of it on his tongue. Tepid but fresh, clean. He cupped his hands in the water and drank from his hands.

He took his waterskin from his hip and drank from it, then filled it with more water from the pound. He was just about to bring more water up to his lips when he heard it.

Screaming.

He did not hesitate. He ran towards it.

It did not sound human. No, that was the howling laughter he could hear as he ran. Cruel laughter. Barking. More screaming. The edges of his vision went red from rage.

He came into a clearing, saw a downed bird being ravaged by a big brown dog. A tall pale human with wicked blue eyes howling and heaving with laughter.

Vander pulled out his bow. He shot the dog. Shoulder, leg, chest.

It was a big dog, an attack dog. Not a hunting one. The human turned on him. The dog leg go off the bird as it fell dead.

Vander notched another arrow and yelled ‘You should respect your prey, otherwise the hunter becomes the hunted!’

The human, some older one with a receding dark hair and scars on his hands and face, sneered at him.

‘I torment all my prey, just as I will torment you for killing my companion.’ The man pulled out a sword.

‘Why do you torment your prey? What did they ever do to you?’ Vander trembled with rage, his bow shaking in his grip. His aim wildly off.

The human smiled. ‘Because it’s fun. You’ll see.’

Vander saw red. He threw his bow aside - a bad idea in hindsight - and pulled out his own sword from his sheath.

‘All you tree huggers are the same. Not understand the fragility of nature. You elves are the worst of it. Survival of the fittest.’ The man attacked him.

Vander dodged, parried, blocked, swiped. He was an archer by trade but that didn’t mean he didn’t know how to dance around a sword of a mere human. The human grew angry, swung wildly. Then Vander finally swung his sword, across the human’s torso then spun and slit his throat with just the tip of it.

‘I am not a tree hugger, but a kind soul whose duty on this land is to kill ones like you.’ Vander said then gutted the dying man.

Vander pulled his sword out and shoved the man’s body to the side.

‘And just like all men before you. I leave you to the wolves where they can decide if they wish to feast upon your festering insides.’ He sneered then turned to the bird.

By some miracle, it was still alive and not dead from shock. He retrieved his bow and sheathed it alone with his sword. He knelt close to the bird - backed up against a tree - saw it’s broken wings and it’s bloody back. He extended his hands and sang softly. Not words but pure sounds that were in the rhythm of the many elven lullabies he had studied up on.

Minutes ticked by as he kneeled there, like a statue besides his moving mouth and throat. Soon the bird approached, singing back. It grew comfortable enough to nibble on the tips of his fingers and he smiled and kept his hand still and let it get somewhat used to him as he sang softly.

Tentatively he ran his hands through the bird’s feathers and it did not back away nor down. It leaned into his touch.

 

~~*******~~

 

The birds wings were broken, and it had deep teeth marks in it’s back. But by god was the young bloodhawk, Elora he named her, a fighter. She not only calmly let him patch her up but chirped at him like a baby bird. He couldn’t withhold the smile on his face, she was beautiful and stunning. She looked like a juvenile. He guessed that by the time her wings healed she’d be a true adult.

She was not aggressively at all like he expected, which worried him. She was young but had most of her adult feathers so he hoped she would not imprint on him. To make it as less likely as possible - he built her a nest in a tree outside Waterdeep. Cared for her there, let her hunt the food her brought her like a wild hawk on the floor. He sang to her and she sang back. He only did it when they were alone outside the city with no chance of a stranger hearing it. He didn’t like anyone hearing his singing but her. He knew it was silly but he didn’t like anyone hearing his singing. Elora was an animal and could pass no true judgements only whether she recognised it or not.

Weeks passed and he bonded to her. He tried to not, but he...couldn’t help it. Animals he healed often did but Elora was different… He had not named any of the others but he felt compelled to name her… He wasn’t sure why. She too had bonded to him, perching on him and sometimes not letting him go - even when he tried to shake her off. Not wanting to hurt her, he’d take her back to Waterdeep and go about business with a bloodhawk on his shoulder. The occasional chirp was enough to help ground him and stop him from fleeing the city in a wild fit like he had just before he met her.

But too soon, it was time to let her roam free. She had been free of the bite marks for weeks and he’d been trying to get her to fly and she could. He came to her tree one day and she swooped down and landed on his forearm. He imitated a small bird warble and smiled at her. She warbled back. Stroking her feathers, he slowly walked to where he had first found her in the forest.

Nothing remained of the dog or the human. All that remained to indicate it the location was a broken arrow. He took her to a tree and tried to shake her off, but Elora dug her talons into his arm. He winced and curse himself for not getting bracers or study leather gloves to do this with.

‘Elora… please.’ His throat constricted on him, making it hard to breath. She gave a chirp in protest, turned to face him with what looked like a glare.

‘I’ll see you around, little one. But you’re a wild bird you don’t belong with me.’

Talons digged into his flesh, causing him to bleed now.

‘We’ll meet again someday - Areal’Sha.’

Moments passed and tears welled in his eyes, not from the physical pain but emotional. She let go to nibble on his fingers and then flew into the tree. He turned around immediately and began walking around. Elora let out a sorrowful cry, that turned into one of the many songs they had sung together. Vander sang back, vocalising the sounds and the occasional line. He remained strong and did not look back as he walked away, singing.

Only then did she let go and fly into a tree. She began a sorrowful note and Vander barely held back tears. He joined in, letting pure notes of sound as he walked away from her…


	2. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A reunion between elf and bird.

He was both a man of the shadows and a man of the forest. That’s what lead him to being here right now, in the forest in the middle of the day. He'd been training from the many books he acquired on his journey on how to hone and control nature magic.

He was sat in the middle of a clearing in a forest, surrounded by large oak trees whose leaves almost entirely blocked out the light from the sun. Around him the forest was alive noise. Birds, canines, the rustle of leaves and plants as they moved in the gentle wind. Several candles, carefully isolated to not catch the grass on fire, surrounded him in a circle. His breathing was slow and deep, the flames becoming larger on his inhale and small on exhale. His eyes were closed but he knew they moved, as he willed it. In front of him was a single broken branch from a tree, herbs and meat scattered across it. He had bought a single stick of incense too. He had planted the stick firmly in the earth and set it alight - behind the tree branch.

He focused on his breathing, letting the tendrils of magic he acquired flow through him.

It was more than just a show or practice of his magic. He was trying to call his own to him, with an explicit target in mind. He knew he might not get a choice. But in his mind and heart, he wanted nothing more than to call forth Elora to be his faithful companion.

He kept meditating.

He was at it for a few hours and nothing happened. At one point he opened his eyes and saw the darkening of the forest around him. He closed his eyes once more and kept at it.

He could hear the soft hooting of the owls as they came out as night fell. Then he felt it. The loss of control over the candle flames. He leant forward, trying to keep his breath steady.  
Then it happened.

He wasn’t in his body anymore, but his animal companion’s.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~**

 

Everything was different. The strain of his wings as he flew up high. The purposeful dive and rush of wind as he sped through the air. The sweet melody of music in his mind that sounded so familiar… a sorrowful song he remembered hearing once…

He spotted food. Mice. Prey. Swooping down and clutching it in his talons. His beak piercing it through the neck and it fell limp in his talons. He tore at it hungrily. Still flying. He dropped the bones and kept flying. The sun was set. But he could still see as if it were dusk.

Then darkness overtook his vision as he kept flying towards the soothing sorrowful song.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~**

 

Dawn’s light bathed the clearing in an eerie glow. Vander laid on his back, eyes fluttering. When he returned to his body, he pulled off his cloak and threw it to the side. He got on his hands and knees and vomited - his body convulsing.

Minutes passed before it settled down. It left him shaky and dizzy. He staggered out of the circle of candles and to a tree where his pack was. He fumbled with the straps that kept his waterskin attached to his pack. He drew back his hands and sat, taking a few moments to gulp in air and settle his body. He then managed to successful unlatch his waterskin and drank from it greedily. It helped soothe his scratchy throat and uneasy stomach.

He sat there, taking sips of water and sitting there. After a few moments the memories of what he had seen came back to him. He looked upwards and saw the glow of the sun break through the leaves of the trees. He scrambled to his feet and kicked his cloak further away from the circle of candles. He stood in the circle again, saw that most of the herbs had been burnt to ashes. The meat still fresh, if less bloody than before.

A bird. It had been a bird.

The song.

‘Elora!’ He cried, hoping she could hear him.

What replied was a very familiar bird call.

Elora!’ He called, elated. He stood on his toes.

Elora broke through the leaves, the sun gleaming off her glossy red feathers. Vander laughed, extended his arm to her and she spiralled down and dug her claws into his arm.

'Elora!’ He cried happily and pulled her close, petting her head and back repeatedly. She made happy chirps and nibbled on the tips of his fingers.

He felt like he was made of lighting, his breathing more rapid than before. His eyes shone with happiness as he cradled her gently and spun in a circle. She did not protest, nibbling on his fingers. He smiled widely, and kissing her on the top of her head. She made a low warble and rubbed his chin.

‘I love you.’ He said and pet her head.

With only one arm free he went to collect his pack and cloak and threw them over one of his shoulders. He doused the candles with his magic. He extended his arm.

‘The meat is yours, Elora.’

She puffed out her feathers and let him go to go gobble the meat down. He packed away the candles, threw on his cloak and reattached his waterskin to his pack.

When he had sorted out his belongings he held out his arm to her.

‘Come on girl, we can be together now. Just like I promised you two years ago.’

Elora gave another chirp before flying to land on his shoulder and perched their, her talons digging in gently.

Vander grinned like a lovestruck man as he walked into the shadow of the forests with her once more, and this time - forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Arael’Sha = heart friend


End file.
